Dance for free on New Year's Eve at the Emerson House in Milford

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

New Year's Eve dancing will be free this year at the Emerson House in Milford. Dining is not required for footloose revelry accompanied by the Curtones, featuring guitarist John Curtin and his vocalist wife, Vicky.

JESSICA COHEN

New Year's Eve dancing will be free this year at the Emerson House in Milford. Dining is not required for footloose revelry accompanied by the Curtones, featuring guitarist John Curtin and his vocalist wife, Vicky.

"If you can dance to the Rolling Stones, you can dance to the Curtones," said John Curtin.

For the occasion, Curtin said his band will play such classics as the Stones' "Start Me Up" and "Honky Tonk Women," as well as "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." But his repertoire is diverse. He said he plays 250 nights a year, including performing in the Gypsy Jazz Quintet and an Elvis Presley tribute band.

At age 10, he was inspired by Elvis Presley and his Martin guitar. He describes himself as a "solo musician with a special occasion band." This will be his 30th New Year's Eve show, and his fourth year as a dance band for the Fauchère.

"Vicky does a great job with Etta James' 'At Last' and 'Dancing in the Streets,'" he said.

Sean Strub, co-owner of the Fauchère, said it's been a tradition at the Hotel Fauchère to have John and Vicki Curtin and their band perform. But usually that was in Bar Louis.

"This year we decided to make it a bigger party and open to the community without a cover charge," Strub said. "We're still in a tough economy, and people can't spend as much going out as they might have before."

Bob Grimm is going to be the bartender. "He and Hillary Needleman — who is now the Hotel Fauchère's special events manager and is coordinating the New Year's Eve celebration — ran the Muir House for many years," Strub said.

The Muir House is now closed, but people ask about them all the time. "So having Bob as our guest bartender on New Year's Eve will be a bit of a reunion with some of the old Muir House crowd," Strub said.

Chef Christopher Bates has been concocting late-night dinner menus for the occasion. The latest, at 10 p.m., includes local foie gras torchon, Oregon black truffle, garden sunchoke soup, confit of steelhead trout, and chocolate-passion fruit tartlet among its offerings.

"This is probably the most grand meal of the year at the Fauchère," Strub said.